Page:Ninety-nine homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas upon the epistles and gospels for forty-nine Sundays of the Christian year (IA ninetyninehomili00thom).pdf/22

 righteous, and merciful, and the only gracious King." Wisdom in the Creator, mercy in the pitiful, goodness in the good, justice in the just, severity in the terrible, power in the powerful, eternity in the eternal. This is the King Who cometh to thee for thy profit. Here the use of the Advent is noted, for it was seven-fold as applied to the present time: First, for the illumination of the world; second, for the spoliation of Hades; third, for the reparation of Heaven; fourth, for the destruction of sin; fifth, for the vanquishment of the devil; sixth, for the reconciliation of man with God; seventh, for the beatification of man. Of the first, S. John viii. 12, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life;" S. John i. 9 , " That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Of the second, Hos. xiii. 14, " O death, I will be thy plague; grave, I will be thy destruction;" Zech. ix. 11, "As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." Of the third, Eph. i. 10, "That in the dispensations of the fulness of times might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth, even in Him." Of the fourth, Heb. ii. 14, 15, "That He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Of the fifth, Rom. vi. 6, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Of the sixth, Rom. v. 10, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Of the seventh, S. John iii. 16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It was because the holy Fathers saw the good things which were about to happen at His Advent that they were calling with so great desire, " O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down." Concerning these seven things the Prophet spake, Isa. lxi. 1, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives, and